O GOD! REVIVE US AGAIN
2 Chronicles 7:14; Psalm 85:1-7
“If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land”
Anybody paying the least attention to happenings in their own lives, in our homes, in our places of worship, in our community, on our streets, and in the world at large, would know that, the need of the hour is, we need revival in our hearts and in our homes, in the church, and in our country. We need true, spiritual revival all over our nation and in the world at large. But what does that mean?
What is Revival?
In Old Testament, revival means,
- “To have life; (2). To sustain life, (3). To live forever, or to make alive.”
The word picture is a person or army completely surrounded by the enemies, with no way to escape.
In the time of greatest despair, God intervened and rescued them completely. But that rescue was almost always needed because of sin.
Today, as much as ever before, we need to be rescued from the influence and consequences of sin and worldliness. Our nation is so much troubled today, simply because of sin. In one way or another, all of our problems go back to sin: People are stubbornly rejecting the God of the Bible and His righteous ways.
We know that the problem is not just about other people’s sin. But the problem is our (Christians) own sin. We need revival in our own hearts and lives.
Revival today is first and foremost about Christians personally getting it right with God.
Phil Dyar asked: “When do we need revival?”
We need revival:
When church dinners are better attended than prayer meetings.
When we do not love Jesus as we once did.
When we would rather watch TV than read the Bible and pray.
When we have time for recreation and sports, but not for Bible study and prayer.
We need revival.
When we seldom think thoughts of eternity.
When we make little effort to witness to the lost.
When we are unmoved by the fact over 2 billion people in the world have never heard the name of Jesus.
We need revival.
When our Christianity is joyless and dry.
When we are bored with worship.
When believers can be at odds with each other and not feel compelled to pursue reconciliation.
We need revival.
When we know the truth in our heads but they are not reflective in our lives.
When we would rather make money than giving money to the needy and for His work.
When people have to be entertained in order to be drawn to church.
When the fire has gone out in our hearts, our marriages, and the church.
What is true today was also true thousands of years ago when this Psalm was written. We need revival over and over again. So we sing and we pray, “Revive us again, Lord! And Psalm 85 gives us the foundation for our prayers.
First: Revive us again, Lord, because we are inspired by Your history (vs.1).
In Psalms 85:1-3, the writer looked back to the great things our God has done. He looked back for strength, encouragement and inspiration. He looked back and began to praise God:
Lord, You have been favorable to Your land; You have brought back the captivity of Jacob (vs. 2).
You have forgiven the iniquity of Your people; You have covered all their sin (vs.3). Selah
You have taken away all Your wrath; You have turned from the fierceness of Your anger (vs. 4).
This man was looking back at the great things God had done for His people. David did the same thing when He was about to face the giant Goliath (1 Samuel 17:32-37). David said this to King Saul: “Let no man’s heart fail because of him (the giant); your servant will go and fight with this Philistine” (1 Samuel 17:32).
And Saul said to David, “You are not able to go against this Philistine to fight with him; for you are but a youth, and he a man of war from his youth (1 Samuel 17:33).”
But David said to Saul, “Your servant used to keep his father’s sheep, and when a lion or a bear came and took a lamb out of the flock (1 Samuel 17:34).
I went out after it and struck it, and delivered the lamb from its mouth; and when it arose against me, I caught it by its beard, and struck and killed it (1 Samuel 17:35).
Your servant has killed both lion and bear; and this uncircumcised Philistine will be like one of them, seeing he has defied the armies of the living God (1 Samuel 17:36),”
Moreover David said, “The Lord, who delivered me from the paw of the lion and from the paw of the bear, He will deliver me from the hand of this Philistine. (1 Samuel 17:37).”
Children of God: All of us can also look back at the great things God has done. We can look into His Word and see many examples of His great help. We can look back at the great things God has done in our own lives. And we can feed our faith on wonderful stories of God touching other lives, sending revival, healing, deliverance and salvation.
God has done countless great things like that. And He’s not through yet! Revive us again, Lord, because we are inspired by Your history.
- And revive us, because we deserve the heat of Your anger.
The Psalmist first looked back at God’s greatness. Then in vs. 4-7 he began to look around his world, and look within his own heart. He did not like what he saw, so he cried out to God:
Restore us (“Turn us” the KJV says.) Restore us, O God of our salvation, And cause Your anger toward us to cease (vs.4). Will You be angry with us forever? Will You prolong Your anger to all generations (vs.5)?
Will You not revive us again, That Your people may rejoice in You (vs6)?
Show us Your mercy, O Lord, And grant us Your salvation (vs.7).
*This Psalmist cried out to the Lord with a passionate, heartfelt prayer. He cried out for God’s mercy, salvation and revival. He cried out because he realized that we have sinned and deserve the wrath of Almighty God. Psalm 85:6; Daniel 9:4-9; 1 Timothy 1:15; Psalm 85:6; John 15:1-8;
Spirit says to the churches.” Will God speak to us? — Of course He will. God will surely speak to us through His Word. But do we really want to hear Him?
*”Mercy and truth have met together.” The certain truth is that we richly deserve the wrath of God. Where could this truth meet together with the mercy we desperately need from God? — Only on the cross of Jesus Christ!
Righteousness and peace have kissed each other. Where could God’s unreachable righteousness draw close enough to kiss us with everlasting peace? — Only on the cross of Jesus Christ! Jesus died on the cross to take the punishment for all of our sins. Jesus died so that we could live forever by trusting in our Risen Savior.
Thank God for the cross of Jesus Christ! And thank God that Jesus rose again from the dead! Now the Risen Lord will give His abundant, eternal life to anyone who will trust in Him. Surely we can trust Jesus to give us both His salvation, and the revival we need. No one can help us like Jesus Christ! Revive us again Lord, because no one can help us like You.
- And revive us, because You are our sure hope for the future.
Psalmist in verses. 11-13 began looking forward to a most hopeful future:
- Truth shall spring out of the earth, And righteousness shall look down from heaven.
- Yes, the Lord will give what is good; And our land will yield its increase.
- Righteousness will go before Him, And shall make His footsteps our pathway.
There is no real hope without Jesus Christ. But we can surely hope in God’s goodness and truth. We can hope that He will send revival to our souls, our families, and our nation.
